Anthony Mariano's career didn't exactly end the way he wanted it to with the Keene State men's basketball team, but in the end it certainly reflected very positively on the Naugatuck native.

Midway through Mariano's senior season, Keene State coach Rob Colbert took him out of the starting lineup and made him into the team's super sub.

"It wasn't fun and it wasn't easy," Colbert said. "It was not a conversation I was looking forward to, because Anthony really enjoys starting as every kid does. But it was a situation we felt was in the best interest of our team to bring in a true point guard and move the kid Martin over to the shooting guard. That is what we have done, and it seems to have worked out really well."

The Owls were 5-5 with Mariano in the starting lineup and 12-5 in games he unselfishly came off the bench as the sixth man and provided energy, scoring and rebounding.

"I tried to make the most of it by being a threat coming off the bench," Mariano said. "Whichever way I had to do it, I was going to do it. They kind of needed me as that spark for the team when somebody went to the bench. I had to accept it and move on and not let it affect the way I played in a negative way. I just wanted to help out what we were trying to do as a team."

Ultimately Mariano didn't get the Little East Conference championship he had hoped, but the Owls came as close as they ever have with him on the floor at the end. After losing in the conference semifinals each of the last two years, they advanced to championship game this season before losing to top-seeded Rhode Island College.

"He was still playing plenty of minutes, and we were looking for him to make big plays," Colbert said. "There are not many sixth men in basketball that you run as many plays as I run for Anthony. He is definitely a big part of the focus in regards to our offensively game. We end games with him, because he is a senior, and he has been through the battles."

Mariano saw a ton of playing time during his career at Keene, making an impact right from the start. He won LEC Rookie of the Year honors as he started 17 games as a freshman and averaged 12.3 points per game. As the Owls added a little more talent around him, his scoring average went down a little as a sophomore (9.1) and a junior (10.0) but he averaged 12.2 again as a senior.

"For sure I feel like I've matured as a player," Mariano said. "I feel like I went through a lot my first three years, and I used that experience to shape my game the way it should be this year. I didn't want to be known as a one-dimensional player so I tried to improve my overall game and become more than just a shooter. This year I drove into the lane a lot more and got to the line rather than just shoot jump shots."

Colbert said Mariano definitely became a better overall player as a senior, allowing him to finish the right way.

"Everyone always wants to say the best thing Anthony does is shoot the ball, but what I really like about his game is his ability to get to the rim," Colbert said. "He is really comfortable with the ball in his hand. He's sneaky. I think people sometimes discount how creative he is around the basket."

Despite not shooting 3-pointers quite as much as a senior, Mariano scored the most points of his career as a senior (330) and along the way hit the 1,000-point milestone. He finished his career with 1,174 points, 421 rebounds and 160 3-pointers.

"(Scoring 1,000 points) is definitely something that I will kind of always have on my mind," Mariano said. "It was one of my goals coming in. I knew I was going to have an opportunity in this system to let my game stand out. I think my career went pretty well for me. My freshman year I had a lot of opportunities with us not being really good at the time. As the years have gone on, we brought in more guys who could play and I just tried to find my role. Overall, I enjoyed it here. I've been happy."

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